Bands

Witchfinder General was an English heavy metal band from Stourbridge. They were part of the new wave of British heavy metal scene and have been cited as a major influence on the doom metal genre. They were named after the 1968 British horror film Witchfinder General.

Witchfinder General formed in 1979 by Zeeb Parkes and Phil Cope in Stourbridge, England, as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement during the early 1980s. They were strongly influenced by Black Sabbath, and have been described as one of the pioneers of the doom metal style. The band's importance was acknowledged mostly after they disbanded. Witchfinder General disbanded sometime in 1984 amidst reported controversy of their sexually explicit album covers in the UK.

Saint Vitus is an American doom metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. They are considered to be one of the first doom metal bands, and have been labeled as one of the "big four" of that genre, along with Candlemass, Pentagram and Trouble. Having released nine studio albums to date, Saint Vitus never achieved a popular breakthrough, but have exerted great influence on the development of doom metal, sludge metal, and stoner rock.

Jex Thoth is a doom metal band from Madison, Wisconsin signed to the Swedish record label I Hate Records. Since 2007 they have released two full-length studio albums, three EPs and a split with Pagan Altar. They have toured Europe every year from 2010–2018.

Candlemass is a Swedish epic doom metal band formed in Stockholm in 1984 by bassist and songwriter Leif Edling and drummer Matz Ekström. The band had a defining influence on doom metal, and the genre itself is named after their 1986 debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Along with Pentagram, Saint Vitus and Trouble, Candlemass has been referred to as one of the "big four of doom metal".

Coven is an American rock band formed in Chicago the late 1960s. They had a top 40 hit in 1971 with the song "One Tin Soldier", the theme song of the movie Billy Jack.

Witchcraft is a Swedish doom metal band founded in 2000.

Magnus Pelander (formerly of Norrsken) formed Witchcraft in 2000 in order to record a tribute to Pentagram's Bobby Liebling and Roky Erickson. The "No Angel or Demon" single was released in 2002 by Primitive Art Records, which caught the attention of Lee Dorrian's label Rise Above Records, who quickly signed them. A year later, the band were brought back together with Jonas Arnesén taking the place of original drummer Jens Henriksson, and his brother Mats taking Ola's place on the bass.

Their debut album, Witchcraft (2004), was worked on in a basement studio with vintage equipment, which gave them their very seventies-esque sound. Mats Arnesén left the band almost immediately after the recording was done. Arnesén was also the drummer in the surf trio "The Hollywoods" and 50s style rockers "Eva Eastwood and the Major Keys". In mid-2004, the band toured Europe with Orange Goblin and Grand Magus.

Pagan Altar is an English doom metal band formed by Terry Jones and his son Alan in 1978 in the borough of Brockley in London.

Alongside Witchfinder General, they are one of the few new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands to play doom metal. The band's concerts are characterised by moody, epic and heavy music, blended with stage effects which accentuate their interest in occult themes.

Pagan Altar's only release from the NWOBHM era was an independent, self-released, self-titled demo album (which was heavily bootlegged in later years). The album would be re-released as an official full-length on Oracle Records in 1998, retitled "Volume 1".

The group reformed in 2004 to re-record an album of previously unreleased material which had been written during their original tenure as a band. The resulting album, "Lords of Hypocrisy", met with a positive reception from fans, and a third full-length album duly followed in 2006, entitled "Mythical and Magical".

Christian Mistress is an American heavy metal band, formed in Olympia, Washington in 2008. The band is signed to Relapse Records.

Goatess ist eine schwedische Stoner-Doom-Band aus Stockholm, die im Jahr 2009 unter dem Namen Weekend Beast gegründet wurde.

Die Band wurde im Frühsommer 2009 unter dem Namen Weekend Beast gegründet, nachdem der Gitarrist Niklas und der Sänger Christian „Chritus“ Linderson schon länger eine Bandgründung geplant hatten. Linderson war zuvor bereits bei den Bands Count Raven, Saint Vitus, Terra Firma und Lord Vicar tätig. Im August 2012 benannte sich die Band in Goatess um.

Über Svart Records erschien 2013 ein selbstbetiteltes Debütalbum, eine exklusive Japan-Edition wurde von Spiritual Beast vertrieben. Im April 2014 ersetzte die Band The Oath auf dem Roadburn Festival. Im April 2016 folgte mit II: Purgatory Under New Management das zweite Studioalbum der Band.

Valkyrie is an American doom metal band from Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Pentagram is an American heavy metal band from Alexandria, Virginia, most famous as one of the pioneers of heavy metal, and the subgenre of doom metal in particular. As such, they are considered one of the "big four of doom metal", alongside Candlemass, Saint Vitus and Trouble. The band was prolific in the underground scene of the 1970s, producing many demos and rehearsal tapes, but did not release a full-length album until reforming in the early 1980s with an almost completely new line-up. Throughout the band's history the only constant member has been vocalist Bobby Liebling. The revolving line-up of Pentagram has featured many well-respected musicians in the local doom metal scene, with members spending time in other acts such as the Obsessed, Place of Skulls, Internal Void, Spirit Caravan, among many others. The band's current line-up consists of Liebling (vocals), Matt Goldsborough (guitar), Greg Turley (bass) and "Minnesota" Pete Campbell (drums).

The Gates of Slumber is an American doom metal band from Indianapolis, Indiana. The group is better known in Germany and England than in their native United States. Their first release distributed within the U.S. was 2008's Conqueror, released on Profound Lore Records.

The band was formed by Karl Simon in 1997 as The Keep with himself on vocals and bass, Jason McCash on guitar, and Chuck Brown on drums. The band released two demos, then McCash and Brown left in 1999. Simon switched to guitar, and renamed the band The Gates of Slumber. In 2000, he recruited bassist Dr. Phibes and drummer Jamie Walters. However, personality and commitment clashes led to Phibes and Walters leaving the band, leaving Simon to bring in Brad Elliott and Chris "The Fist" Gordon as replacements. This lineup was also short-lived and the original lineup of Jason McCash and Chuck Brown replaced Elliot and Gordon on bass and drums, respectively, in 2003.

The Devil's Blood was a Dutch occult rock band from Eindhoven, formed in 2006. Their style is hard rock in the vein of Black Widow, Coven, Black Sabbath, and a plethora of 1970s underground progressive and psychedelic rock. Their sound has been described as "seductive, rather than aggressive" with female vocals, classical guitar leads, analog atmospherics and "vintage satanic hooks".

Grand Magus are a three-piece heavy metal band from Stockholm, Sweden that draws influence from classic heavy metal bands and elements of doom metal.

Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stoner rock, Roadburn grew into a major event spanning the entire spectrum of heavy rock and experimental music. The key staff involved with running the festival are Frens Frijns (managing director, CEO of Tilburg's 013 venue), Walter Hoeijmakers (promoter, artistic director) and Becky Laverty (press, communication, side programme).

Since 2014, Roadburn Festival publishes a daily fanzine that is distributed freely to its attendees. The fanzine is titled Weirdo Canyon Dispatch and is edited by JJ Koczan, one of the principal live photographers of the festival and the editor of The Obelisk webzine.

Count Raven are a Swedish doom metal band established in 1989. From 1990 to 1996, the band released four studio albums, then broke up in 1998. In 2003, they reunited and in 2009 released their fifth album, Mammons War.

Svart Records is a Finnish independent record company focused on heavy metal music, especially doom metal. It concentrates mostly on releasing LP reissues of albums previously unavailable on vinyl.

In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones. For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.